Complementarity and Scientific Rationality

Bohrs interpretation of quantum mechanics has been criticized as incoherent and opportunistic, and based on doubtful philosophical premises. If so Bohrs influence, in the pre-war period of 1927–1939, is the harder to explain, and the acceptance of his approach to quantum mechanics over de Broglies had no reasonable foundation. But Bohrs interpretation changed little from the time of its first appearance, and stood independent of any philosophical presuppositions. The principle of complementarity is itself best read as a conjecture of unusually wide scope, on the nature and future course of explanations in the sciences (and not only the physical sciences). If it must be judged a failure today, it is not because of any internal inconsistency.     

Complementarity Relations for Multi-Qubit Systems

No Heading We derive two complementarity relations that constrain the individual and bipartite properties that may simultaneously exist in a multi-qubit system. The first expression, valid for an arbitrary pure state of n qubits, demonstrates that the degree to which single particle properties are possessed by an individual member of the system is limited by the bipartite entanglement that exists between that qubit and the remainder of the system. This result implies that the phenomenon of entanglement sharing is one specific consequence of complementarity. The second expression, which holds for an arbitrary state of two qubits, pure or mixed, quantifies a tradeoff between the amounts of entanglement, separable uncertainty, and single particle properties that are encoded in the quantum state. The separable uncertainty is a natural measure of our ignorance about the properties possessed by individual subsystems, and may be used to completely characterize the relationship between entanglement and mixedness in two-qubit systems. The two-qubit complementarity relation yields a useful geometric picture in which the root mean square values of local subsystem properties act like coordinates in the space of density matrices, and suggests possible insights into the problem of interpreting quantum mechanics.     

Complementarity in Categorical Quantum Mechanics

We relate notions of complementarity in three layers of quantum mechanics: (i) von Neumann algebras, (ii) Hilbert spaces, and (iii) orthomodular lattices. Taking a more general categorical perspective of which the above are instances, we consider dagger monoidal kernel categories for (ii), so that (i) become (sub)endohomsets and (iii) become subobject lattices. By developing a ‘point-free’ definition of copyability we link (i) commutative von Neumann subalgebras, (ii) classical structures, and (iii) Boolean subalgebras.     

From Wave-Particle to Features-Event Complementarity

The terms wave and particle are of classical origin and are inadequate in dealing with the novelties of quantum mechanics with respect to classical physics. In this paper we propose to substitute the wave-particle terminology with that of features-event complementarity. This approach aims at solving some of the problems affecting quantum-mechanics since its birth. In our terminology, features are what is responsible for one of the most characterizing aspects of quantum mechanics: quantum correlations. We suggest that an (uninterpreted) basic ontology for quantum mechanics should be thought of as constituted by events, features and their dynamical interplay, and that its (interpreted) theoretical ontology (made up by three classes of theoretical entities: states, observables and properties) does not isomorphically correspond to the uninterpreted ontology. Operations, i.e. concrete interventions within the physical world, like preparation, premeasurement and measurement, together with reliable inferences, assure the bridge between interpreted and uninterpreted ontology.     

Complementarity controversy in wave-particle duality revisited

On the face of some recent experiments claiming the simultaneous presence of both ‘sharp interference’ and ‘highly reliable which way information’ and some others casting light on the origin of complementarity in quantum interferometric experiments, the whole issue is reviewed on the basis of our earlier precise formulation of Bohr’s complementarity principle. It is pointed out that contradicting the principle (in this specific formulation) is impossible without contradicting quantum mechanics and a lack of general consensus regarding the origin of the mutual exclusiveness is at the root of the controversy and confusions.      

Complementarity of the maldacena and randall-sundrum pictures

We apply random-matrix-theory (RMT) to the analysis of evolution of wave packets in energy space. We study the crossover from ballistic behavior to saturation, the possibility of having an intermediate diffusive behavior, and the feasibility of strong localization effect. Both theoretical considerations and numerical results are presented. Using quantal-classical correspondence considerations we question the validity of the emerging dynamical picture. In particular, we claim that the appearance of the intermediate diffusive behavior is possibly an artifact of the RMT strategy.     

On the Complementarity of the Quadrature Observables

In this paper we investigate the coupling properties of pairs of quadrature observables, showing that, apart from the Weyl relation, they share the same coupling properties as the position-momentum pair. In particular, they are complementary. We determine the marginal observables of a covariant phase space observable with respect to an arbitrary rotated reference frame, and observe that these marginal observables are unsharp quadrature observables. The related distributions constitute the Radon transform of a phase space distribution of the covariant phase space observable. Since the quadrature distributions are the Radon transform of the Wigner function of a state, we also exhibit the relation between the quadrature observables and the tomography observable, and show how to construct the phase space observable from the quadrature observables. Finally, we give a method to measure together with a single measurement scheme any complementary pair of quadrature observables.     

Complementarity between local and nonlocal topological effects

In certain topological effects the accumulation of a quantum phase shift is accompanied by a local observable effect. We show that such effects manifest a complementarity between nonlocal and local attributes of the topology, which is reminiscent but different from the usual wave-particle complementarity. This complementarity is not a consequence of noncommutativity, rather it is due to the noncanonical nature of the observables. We suggest that a local/nonlocal complementarity is a general feature of topological effects that are "dual" to the Aharonov-Bohm effect.     

Complementarity relation for irreversible processes near steady states

A relation giving a minimum for the irreversible work in quasi-equilibrium processes was derived by Sekimoto et al. [K. Sekimoto, S. Sasa, J. Phys. Soc. Japan 66 (1997) 3326] in the framework of stochastic energetics. This relation can also be written as a type of “uncertainty principle” in such a way that the precise determination of the Helmholtz free energy through the observation of the work 〈W〉$〈W〉$ requires an indefinitely large experimental time Δt$\Delta t$. In the present article, we extend this relation to the case of quasi-steady processes by using the concept of non-equilibrium Helmholtz free energy. We give a formulation of the second law for these processes that extends that presented by Sekimoto [K. Sekimoto, Prog. Theoret. Phys. Suppl. No. 130 (1998) 17] by a term of the first order in the inverse of the experimental time. As an application of our results, two possible experimental situations are considered: stretching of a RNA molecule and the drag of a dipolar particle in the presence of a gradient of electric force.     

Complementarity and diversity in a soluble model ecosystem

Complementarity among species with different traits is one of the basic processes affecting biodiversity, defined as the number of species in the ecosystem. We present here a soluble model of microbial-based ecosystems in which the species are characterized by binary traits and their pairwise interactions follow a complementarity principle. Manipulation of the species composition, and so the study of its effects on the species diversity, is achieved through the introduction of a bias parameter favoring one of the traits. Using statistical mechanics tools we find explicit expressions for the allowed values of the equilibrium species concentrations in terms of the control parameters of the model.     

Complementarity and post-selection in an atomic double-slit interferometer

This paper analyzes, theoretically, an atomic double-slit interferometer in order to probe the extent to which complementary properties affect quantum interference. It is shown that if the energy eigenstates of a two-level atom are one-to-one correlated with its particle and wave behaviors, complementary phenomena can be measured simultaneously, indicating a reinterpretation of the complementarity principle. We also demonstrate that these complementary properties can be further distinguished by using a post-selection process.